Barriers or doors for entry and exit from metal enclosures, which are used as storage areas, necessarily require a handle with an internal latch or locking mechanism for security and safety. These handle and locking mechanisms, being most conveniently operable by means of a key, primarily function to provide a means of preventing unauthorised personnel from entering the otherwise secured locked enclosure.
Commonly employed door assemblies may contain the or part of a locking means comprising a barrel and lock means carried by the handle. However, a problem associated with prior assemblies is that the locking means contained therein can easily be tampered with by vandals trying to smash and destroy the locking means to render it inoperable and thus then gain easy access to the otherwise secure enclosure. In order to overcome this problem, a high security locking means needs to be employed with the handle assembly. However, it has subsequently been found that such high security locking means could not be satisfactorily accommodated and yet still function as required within existing handles. It was discovered that sometimes the high security locking means inadvertently protruded from the upper surface of the handle, thereby exposing the locking means as a target for vandals to destroy.
It is therefore a preferred object of the present invention to provide a handle assembly which is better able to maintain the integrity of the locked assembly even if the locking means is rendered inoperable. It is a further preferred object to provide an assembly which can both accommodate a high security locking means and at the same time make the handle assembly more secure by making the locking mechanism substantially tamper-proof. It is a further object of the present invention to overcome, or at least substantially ameliorate, at least some of the disadvantages and shortcomings of the prior art.